The King and Queen are set to meet Pope Francis in April, but the trip could be in jeopardy due to the pope’s health battle – he remains in hospital with double pneumonia

An historic meeting between King Charles and the Pope is in jeopardy as His Holiness remains in hospital battling double pneumonia.

Charles and Camilla are set to meet Pope Francis, 88, in April as part of a royal tour to Italy and the Vatican. The visit will mark a huge milestone for the King, who is continuing to receive treatment for cancer, and the Catholic Church that is celebrating a special Jubilee Year, which takes place every quarter of a Century.

But the Holy Father has been in Rome’s Gemelli Hospital since February 14 fighting illness and his condition remains “complex”. He has had several setbacks in that time, including two episodes of respiratory failure on Monday, and he is in regular need of oxygen.

Doctors have not given a prognosis and each night a special rosary prayer takes place in St Peter’s Square, in Vatican City, attended by thousands willing Francis to recover. A voice recording played before the prayer from Pope Francis on Thursday was the first time he had been heard since his hospitalisation, and he sounded frail and breathless.

Charles and Pope Francis in 2017 ( 
Image:
PA)

The Vatican could not confirm whether the meeting would go ahead, with a source saying it was “too early to say”. Although Francis has been making some work calls from his hospital bed, he has had few visitors in the past three weeks and there is no indication of when he could leave hospital.

Since Monday’s double breathing crises, he has had four days of stability. But he has been sleeping with a breathing mask covering his nose and mouth, which switches to nasal oxygen during the day.

“Doctors are still being cautious about whether he will leave hospital any time soon,” a Vatican source said. “Whenever we mention ‘stability’ it’s still within a picture of a complex situation and the guarded prognosis remains as it is for the moment.”

The “guarded prognosis” means he is still not out of danger. Despite nervousness from the Vatican, sources at Buckingham Palace have insisted plans are still in place for the King to meet the Pope.

Buckingham Palace have insisted plans are still in place for the King to meet the Pope ( 
Image:
AFP/Getty Images)
However, one source did suggest aides are “of course keeping a close watch on the situation”. The source said: “As it stands from our end, plans are still in place for the visit to take place. Our fondest prayers continue to be with the Pope and we wish him a speedy recovery.”

It is thought the royals’ planned visit to The Vatican’s Sistine Chapel, famed for its spectacular frescoes by Michelangelo and being the site where the next pope is chosen, will still go ahead if the meeting with Francis does not. Charles and Camilla’s tour of Italy, during which their 20th wedding anniversary on April 9 will be celebrated, will include engagements in Rome and Ravenna in the northern Emilia-Romagna region.

That part of the trip should not be affected but a visit to The Pope, depending on his condition, could be skipped. Vatican City had been building up to the meeting, which would be Charles’ first since becoming King, having met Francis twice as Prince of Wales.

The trip also marks a major sign of intent for the King as he commits to a full work schedule this year while still having weekly cancer treatment. It would be the first time in more than a decade since a British monarch, as head of the Church of England, would have met the head of the Catholic Church.

The late Queen Elizabeth II had a personal audience with Pope Francis on a trip to the Italian capital in 2014. Rome citizen Angela Maria, who has regularly attended the prayers for Pope Francis, said after hearing his voice on Thursday: “It was wonderful to hear from him, he knows of our nightly rosaries for him. It’s been three trying weeks of suffering, it will take a miracle for him to come back, we know, but we are strong in the Jubilee Year of Speranza (hope).”